


It's Just Business

by Valentine20xx



Category: Ranma 1/2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 10:54:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20274751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: Ever wonder why Ranma can't get a break, can't get a moment's peace, and even at the end of the manga, when he had earned his happy ending, everything wasn't resolved in the end?One person knows exactly why, and, for them, it was a very very happy ending.





	It's Just Business

Nabiki didn't like unpredictability. Every fight, every battle, every contest that she didn't get forewarned about, she lost at least a million yen of the housing rates and repair costs she quietly paid off. She knew full well that Ryoga didn't know of Ranma's gentleman's agreement, but she wished he'd actually stop getting lost so randomly. If he actually could be predicted, she could ensure their rivalry always turned heated.

She loved the seppuku contract and it's very vague terms. She knew full well that Ranma was getting used to the curse, and, in another situation, would have accepted it long ago, but, as long as he needed to be a example to all men, almost like the gaijin Chuck Norris, to prove himself to his mother, something that she doubted was even possible, Nabiki could abuse the fact.

Akane being Ranma's fiancée, however, that was the greatest thing ever for business. Every little argument that she escalated, Every time she turned a attempt by Ranma to favor one of the other girls into all out war, Nabiki made money. And every time Nabiki made money, she made sure that everything kept going as it was.

She loved the fact Akane didn't see Ranma having pictures of her as him protecting her chastity, She loved the fact Akane wouldn't allow the fiancée wars to end, thinking Ranma favoring Ukyo or Shampoo was the end of the world. She knew full well Ranma's love for Akane was mostly one-sided. She loved even more that Kasumi had turned Ranma down, especially after a long talk with her after Doctor Tofu moved away, giving his clinic and case files to a new doctor.

She'd told her that she was planning on transferring the engagement to her, since she was worried Ranma might get hurt. She loved when she told Kasumi, the one person who'd close half her earnings off in a week, that Akane would get even more dangerous if that happened, a flat lie. She'd be devastated, yes, but she'd not become more dangerous at all.

The wedding had been her magnum opus, the guarantee that, whatever happened to Ranma, the money would keep rolling in. It was the one chance, that one shining moment that, if it had gone without a hitch, the meal ticket that was Ranma Saotome would go terribly terribly wrong. Thanks to Nabiki, however, she'd still be earning her several thousand yen a day off his lack of marriage.

Some people said that Nabiki was the Ice Queen, some people said that she was a exploitative bitch who had no sense of morals. She worshipped money, and earning it. She was a loan shark, a less-than-reputable bookie and a gambler who had, so far, come up with all the aces every time.

To Nabiki, all the scams, the lies, and the trickery... It was all just business. As long as Ranma had his curse, and Akane was his one true fiancee, Nabiki was there to cut the cheque. She could fund dozens of weddings, if they made her as much as the first one. And she planned to. Soun and Genma thought they controlled the engagement. The fools.

She did and always had.

**Author's Note:**

> Look at Ranma Nibbunoichi, practically any version, except those who have Nabiki as a paragon of virtue... somehow...
> 
> And in 99.9% of situations where something escalates abruptly, you can sense Nabiki caused it.  
Hell, In the very first chapter, Nabiki tells Akane that the bath is ready, having not checked with Kasumi, who had sent Ranma in just before, so is almost completely to blame for the rather poor way in which they first met!


End file.
